"What the hell!"
At a campsite sowhere in the wilderness outside Yunhua City, a young man blurted out a national expletive after hearing the rule.
His shout instantly drew the synchronized gazes of everyone else in the camp, their eyes filled with shock and bewildernt.
The man himself realized sothing, and blurted out again, "Hey, how did I—"
He hurriedly raised his hand to cover his mouth, but it seed it was already far too late.
The others in the camp looked at each other, several of them anxiously gesturing to one another.
The aning of the gestures was very clear, just two words: Danger!
The rule explicitly stated that speaking ant failing the challenge and would also attract an attack from "Sound Hunters."
What were Sound Hunters? How would they attack?
Everyone was completely in the dark, but what they did know was that it must be extrely dangerous!
The camp's leader, a middle-aged woman, pointed urgently at a car parked at the edge of the camp, signaling the young man to go inside and hide first.
The young man, now realizing he had already failed the challenge, simply stopped covering his mouth and asked the middle-aged woman, "Sister Yu, you want
to go in the car?"
Sister Yu nodded.
This woman called Sister Yu was precisely the adaptive subject from the Blood Plague rule. During the rule period, a lot of her blood had been drawn to separate serum, but the authorities had also given her a considerable amount of Ascension Coins as compensation.
After the Blood Plague rule ended, the Yunhua City authorities asked if she wanted to join an official departnt. She chose to refuse, still preferring to stay with the mbers of her own camp.
At this mont, the young man imdiately ran into the car, climbed into the back seat, and locked the doors. The others in the camp nervously and fearfully observed their surroundings, on guard against the "Sound Hunters" ntioned in the rule.
They knew the rules wouldn't be wrong. Since it ntioned Sound Hunters would attack after making a sound, then there definitely would be.
They just didn't know what kind of existence a Sound Hunter was. Would that thing only attack the one who made the sound, or would it attack everyone within a certain range?
Realizing this, Sister Yu gestured for everyone to spread out and take up positions. Just then, the sound of shattering car window glass abruptly rang out.
Crack!
Everyone looked towards the vehicle in unison. The rear window had been destroyed by sothing unknown. Sister Yu was the first to rush over and look inside the car.
The young man's throat and neck were completely pierced through, blood gushing out as he lay dead on the back seat, his eyes wide open.
Sister Yu forcefully covered her mouth, controlling herself not to cry out in shock.
The others in the camp also covered their mouths as they hurried over. Seeing the tragic state of the man in the car, they were all utterly terrified.
Because from start to finish, they hadn't seen the figure of the Sound Hunter, let alone known how it had killed the man!
Soone, overwheld by their companion's death and imnse fear, couldn't control the tears streaming down their face, but their hands were clamped tightly over their mouth, absolutely refusing to let themselves make even the slightest sound.
Another man with a crew cut was the first to calm down. He pulled out his phone, set the font to maximum size, and quickly typed a line of text for everyone to see:
(Communicate using text! Don't make a sound, no matter what!)
The others nodded repeatedly.
The boy Xiao Ming, who had been infected with the virus before and saved by Sister Yu's serum, now typed on his phone:
(The [Communication Scrolls] sold in the store work too. Those don't require speaking; you can complete a conversation using just your thoughts!)
The crew-cut man looked and shook his head, typing on his phone: (Those things can only be bought 10 per person. Don't waste them lightly.)
Sister Yu also typed on her phone now: (That's right. This rule lasts a full month. Unless absolutely necessary, use phone typing or writing to communicate first.)
Everyone in the camp expressed agreent. Then, Sister Yu found a clean piece of clothing, cut it into several strips with scissors, and distributed them to everyone.
She typed on her phone to inform them: (It's best if everyone ties these over their mouths to prevent accidentally or unconsciously saying sothing.)
...
Can't speak...?
On Mingdao Mountain, Guan Tong felt a chill run through him upon hearing the content of this seventh rule.
At first glance, this rule didn't seem as harsh as other survival-type rules, but in reality, it was even more nerve-wracking.
Especially since the rule's effective period was as long as a month. Not being able to speak for a month was absolutely a huge tornt for humans, social creatures that they were.
Even Guan Tong himself, living alone on the mountain, would occasionally talk to himself or, when bored, tease the black cat Coal Ball, calling it to eat and such. It wasn't like he went entire days completely silent.
Moreover, this rule restricted not just speech, but even crying and laughing were prohibited... It truly was, as the note said, about forcing people to self-discipline into sculptures that only breathe and think.
But still...
What Guan Tong didn't quite understand was that this rule's reward included a survival treasure chest, implying it was a survival-type rule.
These types of rules usually ant failure resulted in death, but this rule explicitly stated the failure penalty was "Mind Power decay."
This ant there was a possibility of "failing the rule challenge but surviving."
...Was it related to that "Sound Hunter"?
Guan Tong thought to himself. Making a sound would attract an attack from a Sound Hunter. So, if one could evade or counter-kill it, perhaps they could achieve the outco of failing the rule challenge but surviving.
Guan Tong himself certainly didn't want to try such a suicidal move. Who knew what the hell a "Sound Hunter" even was. Besides, he didn't want to fail the challenge and suffer Mind Power upper limit decay.
According to information soone had posted online before, the degree of Mind Power upper limit decay after failing a rule challenge varied. So people even lost over ten points! For Guan Tong, losing over ten points would take several months to recover. He wouldn't do sothing that stupid.
Let's see what the Hidden Rule is first.
Guan Tong silently recited in his mind to open his Personal Terminal and check the rule details.
After staring for a mont, the Hidden Rule combination appeared.
[Hidden Rule Seven: Seek Scrolls Amidst Danger]
[Hidden Rule Content: During this rule, Sound Hunters can be eliminated. Eliminating them yields additional Ascension Coin rewards and has a chance to drop tradable "Communication Scrolls."]
[Note: To preserve your Mind Power from decay, or to go for Ascension Coins and Communication Scrolls? That is the question. But if you decide to choose the latter—please first ensure you possess the strength capable of eliminating a Sound Hunter.]
Eliminating a Sound Hunter has a chance to drop tradable Communication Scrolls?
Seeing the Hidden Rule content, Guan Tong's heart skipped a beat in surprise.
You had to understand, the ones sold in the Ascension Store now were the non-tradable version, and each person was limited to buying 10, each costing 20 Ascension Coins. But everyone knew the actual value of this item far exceeded 20 Ascension Coins; adding another zero wouldn't even be an exaggeration.
Because even without this current rule, an item that allowed communication ignoring distance, environnt, and surveillance, simply by adding a Terminal friend... such a tool's price definitely wouldn't be low.
Especially for those in higher positions, the more they had a need for such private communication. If he could get his hands on so tradable Communication Scrolls, reselling them could absolutely make a huge profit.
However, the risks involved were also not small.
The Hidden Rule's na, "Seek Scrolls Amidst Danger," revealed that much.
Guan Tong estimated that this "Sound Hunter" must be so kind of terrifying enemy, not so easy to deal with. If one blindly made noise to lure it just for the Ascension Coins and tradable scrolls, it would be a tragedy if they couldn't defeat it when it arrived.
But even if the threat level of the Sound Hunter was confird and there were ways to deal with it, Guan Tong still wasn't too willing to do it.
Because increasing his Mind Power upper limit was too difficult. He had only gained 4 points this entire month. Just for Ascension Coins and Communication Scrolls—the latter not even a guaranteed drop, just a chance—risking Mind Power decay for them undoubtedly felt like throwing away a waterlon to pick up a sesa seed.
Unless it wasn't a Sound Hunter lured by his own noise.
An idea stirred in Guan Tong's mind. Did the living dead he summoned with the [Corpse Whistle] count as humans under this rule?
If he summoned a few living dead and had them roar, would that attract Sound Hunters?
Guan Tong felt a bit of an itch to try, but still didn't act recklessly.
Failing would be one thing, but if he really succeeded, who knew if the Sound Hunter thing would only attack the one making the sound or attack everyone within a certain range. If it was the latter scenario, doing this without knowing the enemy's nature would undoubtedly be a very irrational move.
Better to play it safe for now.
After thinking it over, Guan Tong decided: Information about Sound Hunters should leak online later. Once the attack characteristics of these things were confird, it wouldn't be too late to try then.
Just then, the black cat Coal Ball ca over and owed.
"ow."
Guan Tong looked at it, thinking to himself, You're not human, so you can ow all you want, but I can't.
He thought for a mont, went back into the wooden hut, and took out a roll of electrical tape.
Then he placed a layer of paper over his mouth and wrapped it with the tape. This would prevent a sentence from accidentally slipping out unconsciously.
After all, this rule lasted a full month. He couldn't guarantee he'd be vigilant every single mont for a month. If he relaxed at so point and said sothing, all his efforts would be in vain.
Moreover, Guan Tong felt he actually had an advantage.
Because he lived alone on the mountain, he eliminated a major negative influence: the presence of others.
It was different for those living in gathering points, shelters, and wilderness camps. In a group living environnt, even with extra caution, it was easy to accidentally engage in conversation and fail the challenge.
...
At this very mont, Yunhua City - Shelter No. 915.
Multiple Ascendants randomly assigned to this location were gathered in a eting room. Besides them, there were also staff responsible for managing the shelter.
The staff were currently typing on a computer, projecting the text onto a television screen.
(The authorities have issued a notice. From the mont the rule takes effect, all personnel in the shelter are not to act simultaneously. People must be separated from each other. Eating together, watching TV together, etc., are not permitted.)
The residents all nodded nervously. At a ti like this, forget doing things together; if possible, they'd even prefer to each have their own single room. Not seeing anyone else would be the safest.
But unfortunately, the shelter wasn't that big. Four people to a bedroom was already considered quite good.
Originally, the authorities had initially planned to design the bedroom area according to a 6-8 person per room standard, but after discussion, they abandoned that idea and changed it to the standard 4-person room.
The reason was that under the Doomsday Rules, everyone's psychological pressure was imnse. If they went with sothing like 8-person rooms, it would likely impose even greater pressure on the residents. If a group were to suddenly go berserk and lose control, the consequences would be unthinkable.
The managent staff typed a few more lines displayed on the screen:
(To prevent unconscious, inadvertent speech, everyone must later wear specially designed 'anti-speech devices.' Factories are currently rushing to develop and produce them. Before distribution, use cloth strips, pacifiers, etc., as substitutes.)
(Furthermore, to prevent talking in one's sleep after falling asleep, everyone must sleep with an oral blockage in their mouth. After waking up, don't rush to get up. First confirm the state of your mouth, ensure you won't unconsciously make a sound, then get up.)
The residents who read this text felt sowhat speechless, but they could understand.
Especially the pacifiers. Although childish, sucking on one of those things really did make it impossible to speak.
And because the birth rate was now almost zero, a massive amount of mother and baby products were all piled up in warehouses. Now that there was finally a use for them, it would be a waste not to use them.
Thus, in major cities, truckloads of pacifiers were imdiately transported to various shelters and gathering points throughout the cities and distributed to everyone.
The sight of people all sucking on pacifiers was sowhat comical, to the point that no one would easily look at others, afraid they might not be able to hold back laughter.
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